What is MAME - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator

Years ago Nicola Salmoria developed MAME and it is one of my favorite computer creations of all time. Those of us lucky enough to experience the early-mid eightys first hand will remember the days of the video arcade and all the classic games that existed. All games were 25 cents and with a hand full of quarters one was set for a while of electronic bliss.

At the time, home game consoles sucked. Atari, Coleco, and Intellivision were the main players but didn't come close to what was really out there in the arcades. If only we could bring them home.

Well 20 years later and consoles now rival arcade games and yet I find myself stuck in the old times when games were simpler and just plain fun.

Getting back to MAME. This emulator allows a modern computer to act as if it were the old processor boards that mad up so many of the old video games. The ROM codes were able to be retrieved (and preserved) to allow the emulator to reproduce the original game in all detail.

Of course one cannot legally own the ROM codes unless on owns the original game.

Visit www.mame.net to obtain the emulator and read more.